steezy

Diawa Pluton, its like having a wench on your rod.

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Don't think we have any big fish like those (blues, jacks or tarpon) in any of the ponds or lakes in my area of TX so I wont worry much about a fish breaking the 30# braid on my spinning reel. I lived on the Carolina coast much of my early years and remember fighting very big fish routinely and you are correct that it makes you learn how the use the equipment correctly and efficiently or they will break off.

Great on light spinning gear, just tighten the drag and reel the fish in, never have to worry about breaking the line. In stained water I just tie a weightless plastic direct to the braid and catch lots of fish. Daiwa 30# Samurai Braid, 2500 spinning reel, 6'8" ML rod.

Only if I liked the gear.

The frogs where I fish the most hit frog lures, any soft plastic on top of vegetation and even shallow swimbaits. The frogs are big and hard to get unhooked.

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If your goning to throw large swimbaits get a Heavy or XtraHeavy rod and Daiwa Pluton reel.

I tried several braid lines, P-Line, PP, Diawa Samuri. P-Line = OK but noisy through the guides problems casting PP = Very Good, fairly quite and casts good Diawa Samuri = BEST, very quite, casts almost as smooth as fluoro/mono. I use the 30# on my spinning reel and the 55# & 70# on casting setups. The Diawa Samuri braid is worth every penny.

No one "needs" a $400 fishing rod to catch fish, we all know you can catch fish with a stick, string and hook. I was catching lots of fish on a $30 rod and $30 reel, however, once I discovered $400 rods and $400 reels it elevated my fishing experience up to a new level. I don't think I catch any more fish than before but I really enjoy using the expensive gear, I can afford it so i buy it. Based on lots of experience fishing with high end gear, I will always recommend it if you can afford it.

G.Loomis MBR842C 7' MedFast Rod w/ Steez 100SHA Reel. Its not the best looking rod but its the best all around fishing rod.

That fish looks a bit small for 5#, it probably would have been larger if caught on a Cumulus rod. 8-)

It fishes like a dream, the blank is magic. Please give more details steezy I'm probably not going to get one but can you tell us how it compares w/ loomis glx in terms of sensitivity, action, feel and lure weight rating (how well does it cast the lures w/in the stated weight) etc... I feel my loomis rod's lure weight rating is a bit overrated. I own 2 G.Loomis GLX rods, MBR842C 7' MedFast and MBR843C 7' MedHvyFast. My custom has a NFC HM MB705-1 7' MedHvyFast blank and feels like my G.Loomis MBR843C 7' MedHvyFast on steroids. Compared to the MBR843C it feels more sensitive, the action is a bit softer and has more backbone/power. The lure weight rating seems a bit underrated, its rated for 1/4 - 3/4 but I was easily able to cast a small 7/8 oz swimbait as well as a 6" finesse worm T-rigged with a 1/8 oz weight. The rod loaded well during casting and appreared to require a little less effort. Controlling a fish took a bit less effort and maybe the spiral wrapped guides helped with that since the blank didnt want to twist under a load. The rod feels very powerful yet lightweight and agile.

It fishes like a dream, the blank is magic.

I don't think a $89 Vendettea can be considered a high end rod.

thanks for the info roger

Theres vegetation in my neighborhood pond and my HOA president has been told its "pond weed" and will take over the entire pond if not killed. Its been there for years and never covers more than 10% of the pond, it dies every winter and comes back to life every spring. It the best cover for fish in the pond and I catch a lot of nice fish near, around and in it. Anyone have a clue what this is ?

Yes, in fact caught the same fish with 20 min but 50 yards apart.

Dude, if you dont think the Cumulus is worth paying 3x the cost of a Vendetta then dont buy a Cumulus but I think you will find it impossible to get any knowledgeable fishermen to believe you. Remember, there is a reason the Vendette costs $89 and the Cumulus is $349. The Cumulus blank costs more to produce than the entire Vendette rod. Im not knocking the Vendetta rod but that the way it is. You said you have a Steez compilex rod so Im having a hard time understanding why anyone that buys a $500 Steez rod is buying and using a $89 Vendetta rod. Its gotta feel strange when you switch form the Steez to the Vendetta. Be like going from a BMW to a Kia.

Yeah, it's almost unbelievable people are willing to defend Shimano at 3X the price! Pantera61, its not the price that people are defending, its the rod. It's almost unbelievable, that you think that is unbelievable.

Larry, Im glad you got to try it out for a few casts, wish you would have hooked a hawg. -steezy

The rod weight is 4 oz and the blank lure rating is 1/4 - 3/4 so it will handle a variety of lures including plastics. Tried it out this evening and caught 1 dink and 1 2# LMB. Love the micro guides and spiral wrap. The rod blank feels and acts like a G.Loomis GLX MBR843 on steroids. Cost: $600

Matt Davis at Otterods did a nice job and made a great rod. NFC HM MB705-1 Blank - 7' MH Painted Matagi Reel Seat Chrome Components TiSiC Micro Guides - Spiral Wrapped Hypalon Split Grip Rod Weight: 4 oz Lure Rating: 1/4 - 3/4 I just mounted a new Steez reel on it.

quoting from Cal, TackleTour, link below: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwacompx.html "Sensitivity: This is where I really expected this rod to shine. It flat out feels like a stick that is pre-tensioned to deliver the ultimate in sensitivity. In actual fishing applications, I was, in fact, disappointed. It is a sensitive rod, do not get me wrong. In fact, I find it on par with my BCR893 GLX and even my Megabass F5 1/2 68XFti SB Diablo - both very good jig sticks. But with the way this rod feels in hand, I was expecting to be blown away, especially when fishing a jig, and I wasn't. Bottom composition is fairly easy to discern with this rod, but where I was hoping for extra-feedback was in actual strike detection. While fishing the jig, I still encountered a fair number of pressure bites which lead me to the conclusion this rod is no more sensitive than the other two I mentioned above. Perhaps I was just expecting too much." Now, for my experience regarding the Steez Compile X sensitivity: I was fishing a small, club tournament on a lake with good clarity. I was able to see a bass take the jig and not detect the bite. No once but multiple times. The Vendetta 6'9" casting rod, on the other hand, delivered crisp detection of both fish and bottom structure. You can take your $300 or $400 or $559 rod and YOUR PRIDE, wear the price tag on your sleeve and feel real good about it or you can try something new, that performs beyond it's price point. There's still a difference between the real enthusiast and custom made stuff but the gap is narrowing. The Vendetta rods could use a bit of refinement. I'm using the 6'9" ML and it's not a Megabass or Evergreen rod but it holds it's own. I also use the 7'1" compileX rod for jigs and apparently we must be using different compileX rods cause mine is very sensitive. I can feel the bottom contour so well I could draw it on a canvas. Im not knocking the Vendetta rods they catch fish and thats all that matters but to me they are not better than my Steez or Loomis GLX rods and price is not the determining factor in my opinion of the rods.

I agree but is it $300 better? Seriously if I'm spending that much on a rod I'd expect it to beat a rod like the Vendetta no matter who's doing the review. I mean they shouldn't even be in the same ball park. Not saying that those guys at Tackle Tour have the finale word on it but they do test a lot of tackle and they seem to have very high standards consider that they compare most rods to G.Loomis GLX Tell ya what, I haven't fished the Cumulus but I have fished the Steez, 6'3" casting and 7'1" casting and the Vendetta 6'3" casting and 6'9" casting. Component and finish wise, it's the Steez all day long. Performance wise, the Vendetta takes it far and away. Just wait until the Veritas hits the scene, cause then the game is really on! Vendetta 6'9" vs Steez 7' ? I've fished both rods and there no question, the Steez not only is better looking with better components, it completely out performs the Vendetta by a mile. The $90 (5.1 oz) rod is totally blown away by the $450 (3.8 oz) rod.